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"Winner of the 1995 National Book Award, Passing Through confirms that the venerable doyen of American poetry is still a poet in his prime."―Atlantic Monthly

Stanley Kunitz, one of the masters of contemporary poetry, presents his ninth collection, gathering a rich selection of his work, including new poems that remind us of his prefatory statement: "Art is the chalice into which we pour the wine of transcendence." Nearly all the poems of Kunitz's later years, beginning with The Testing-Tree (1971), are included, and most of the poems in Passing Through are unavailable in any other edition.

In "Touch Me," the last poem in the collection, Kunitz propounds a question, "What makes the engine go?" and gives us his answer: "Desire, desire, desire." These poems fairly hum with the energy, the excitement, the ardor, that make Kunitz one of our most enduring and highly honored poets. In the words of Carolyn Forché, "he is a living treasure."

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Marking his 90th birthday, this Stanley Kunitz greatest hits package is a treasure. "The Wellfleet Whale" is one of the best nature poems of the 20th century, but Kunitz shines brightest when writing about the family. Notice especially, "The Portrait," which both describes a portrait found in an attic and is itself a portrait of Kunitz's childhood. The poem details a child finding a portrait of his dead father, a portrait that opens old wounds ("My mother never forgave my father / for killing himself") even as new wounds are being formed. This is moving, potent, passionate writing.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Pulitzer and Bollingen Poetry Prize winner, Kunitz, at 90, celebrates new and ancient events, global and personal, real and mythic, in language that compels us to share his wonder at the workings of the world. From Apollo 11's flight to Roman gladiators' fights, Pastor Bonhoeffer to his daughter whose first dog was a Pekinese, "half mandarin, half mini-lion," Kunitz's often meticulous narratives and descriptions lead us to a deeper reality. In the lengthy "The Wellfleet Whale," he addresses a 63-foot finback whale that swims "like a god in exile" before foundering on the beach: "You have become like us,/ disgraced and mortal." The poet's father, a suicide not long before Kunitz was born, is a vital absence in several poems. As a child young Kunitz found a pastel portrait "of a long-lipped stranger/with a brave moustache." His mother tore it up, then slapped him. "In my sixty-fourth year/ I can feel my cheek/ still burning." In the last new poem, one of nine previously uncollected, he writes, "Touch me,/ remind me who I am." It is what he does for us. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Top customer reviews

I heard a Kunitz poem on Spokenverse, and was kind of hooked (Autumn Caterpillar Lament). Most of this book is available on Google Books as a preview, so I wouldn't recommend spending full price on it - I got it used for $4. I enjoyed about 85% of the book, and it was good bedside reading.

Stanley Kunitz veritably sparkles, both in person and on the page. Those who have had the good fortune to hear him read know that his voice imbues his work with life, dancing with his lines in a crisp wry way possible only for someone of his age and sensitivity. If you can't hear him read, however, this book is a stunner, a gift. Each poem literally seizes one's breath, stopping life for the split second it takes to renew it. The poems make their own review. Alyssa A. Lappen

It says a great deal about Stanley Kunitz that he was 95 when he was named Poet Laureate for the second time. First, it reminds us that he lived to a great age --- he died, in 2006, at 100 --- and was a vital talent right to the end. And, even more, it underscores that his career was more of a marathon than a sprint. W.H. Auden got it exactly: ""It's strange, but give him time. A hundred years or so. He's a patient man. He won't mind waiting."

The really fascinating news, though, is that Stanley Kunitz continually improved as a poet. "Passing Through: The Later Poems" --- almost universally considered the best of his ten books --- was published when he was 95. And, for once, "best" and "most accessible" belong in the same sentence. For as he aged, Kunitz said, "I've learned to strip the water out of my poems." The result is a clarity and directness that makes Kunitz an ideal poet both for people who only sort of like poetry and for those who like to dig into the poem and explore the layers.

Digging in: That's the right phrase to describe the pleasure of a Kunitz poem. He was a lifelong gardener, and as soon as he arrived at his summer home on Cape Cod he was with his plants: tending, pruning, marveling. (His final book, published in 2007, is a gardening chronicle.)

This connection with growing things is closely connected to the key issue of Kunitz's life and work --- parenting. An odd connection? Consider the biography. A few weeks before he was born, his father drank carbolic acid and died. His mother, a tough-minded immigrant, raised two daughters and Stanley for eight years, then married a charming, loving man who was like a father to the boy. Alas, he had a fatal heart attack four years later.

Kunitz might have found "the lost father" at Harvard, but after graduating summa cum laude he was told there was no teaching opportunity there --- the Christian students might resent a literature instructor who was a Jew. He gigged around, committed himself to poetry and began a seventy-five year career as a poet.

The poems in "Passing Through" touch all the bases. Right off, we get the primary wound (which Kunitz repeated by leaving his first wife and young daughter): "You say you had a father once/his name was absence." He has a healthy interest in women: "I think I'd rather sleep forever/than wake up cold/in a country without women." He has a loving father's appreciation for his daughter: "I like the sound of your voice/even when you phone from school/asking for money." And on the biggest topic of all:

Peace! Peace!To be rocked by the Infinite!As if it didn't matterwhich way was home;as if he didn't knowhe loved the earth so muchhe wanted to stay forever.

Pulitzer Prize winner Stanley Kunitz proves that you're never too old to be an artist with this volume of work. His poetry still reflects a passion for life. A good example of this vital spirit is found in 'Touch me'; "Summer is late, my heart./ Words plucked out of the air/ some forty years ago/ when I was wild with love ... Darling, do you remember/ the man you married? Touch me/ remind me who I am." I was also moved by 'The Portrait', which opens with "My mother never forgave my father/ for killing himself, ..." The book contains an bibliography of each poem, and a foreward which the author titles "Instead of a foreward."

After trying for weeks to digeste The Wild Braid as tops, then his Collected Poems of several key periods of writing, I can only agree with the shortest ever review, telling of his unique creative insight to look inside my Personhood! (Pun-Intended)

Stanley Kunitz has more than any writer of these past few months including, Karen Armstrong, Fred Buechner, Joan Chittister, Anne Lamott, and Ferrol Sams, Jr. SK has made one totally affective, profoundly life-change upon my writing endeavors! His poems have been handed-off to several friends, who are older, wiser, more gifted writers than I may become! My mistake not give a Perfect--10 Stars! Shalom...Chaplain Fred W. Hood